Subject : Politics shouldn’t come between Pak-India cricket said Misbahul-HaqPakistan Test captain Misbahul Haq has said that in order to resume bilateral cricketing ties between Pakistan and India, both nations have to keep politics out of sports. Talking to reporters, the 42-year-old said “As a player, I would like to play against India,” he said. “I would want to captain our side against them. But unless politics is kept away from cricket, there can’t be a resumption of bilateral ties.” Despite leading Pakistan in Tests since 2010, Misbah is yet to play in a Test against India as a skipper, although he has captained the national side against the arch-rivals in limited-over matches.

Since 2007-08, when India visited Pakistan, there hasn’t been a complete bilateral series comprising of Tests, ODIs and T20I matches between the two cricket giants. Pakistan, however, visited India for an ODI series in 2012-13. The Test captain also said, “Pakistan had always pushed for a resumption of bilateral ties, but unfortunately the response from India had not been the same.” Previously, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur said that there was no question of playing against Pakistan in the current political scenario.